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1 Synthesis Study on Capacity, Change and Performance Mobilising against hunger and for life: Peter Morgan, Tony Land and Heather Baser An analysis of capacity and change in a Brazilian network John Saxby Pretoria, John Saxby South Africa Pretoria, South Africa Discussion Paper No 59A April 2005 European Centre for Development Policy Management Centre européen de gestion des politiques de développement

2 Study of Capacity, Change and Performance Notes on the methodology The lack of capacity in low-income countries is one of the main constraints to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Even practitioners confess to having only a limited understanding of how capacity actually develops. In 2002, the chair of Govnet, the Network on Governance and Capacity Development of the OECD, asked the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Maastricht, the Netherlands to undertake a study of how organisations and systems, mainly in developing countries, have succeeded in building their capacity and improving performance. The resulting study focuses on the endogenous process of capacity development - the process of change from the perspective of those undergoing the change. The study examines the factors that encourage it, how it differs from one context to another, and why efforts to develop capacity have been more successful in some contexts than in others. The study consists of about 20 field cases carried out according to a methodological framework with seven components, as follows: Capabilities: How do the capabilities of a group, organisation or network feed into organisational capacity? Endogenous change and adaptation: How do processes of change take place within an organisation or system? Performance: What has the organisation or system accomplished or is it now able to deliver? The focus here is on assessing the effectiveness of the process of capacity development rather than on impact, which will be apparent only in the long term. External context: How has the external context - the historical, cultural, political and institutional environment, and the constraints and opportunities they create - influenced the capacity and performance of the organisation or system? Stakeholders: What has been the influence of stakeholders such as beneficiaries, suppliers and supporters, and their different interests, expectations, modes of behaviour, resources, interrelationships and intensity of involvement? External interventions: How have outsiders influenced the process of change? Internal features and key resources: What are the patterns of internal features such as formal and informal roles, structures, resources, culture, strategies and values, and what influence have they had at both the organisational and multi-organisational levels? The outputs of the study will include about 20 case study reports, an annotated review of the literature, a set of assessment tools, and various thematic papers to stimulate new thinking and practices about capacity development. The synthesis report summarising the results of the case studies will be published in The results of the study, interim reports and an elaborated methodology can be consulted at or For further information, please contact Ms Heather Baser The simplified analytical framework External context Stakeholders Core variables Capabilities Endogenous Change and adaptation Performance External intervention Internal features and resources

6 Acronyms ACBF ADB AusAID CIDA COEP ECDPM ENACT ESDU DfID Govnet HSSP IDRC INTRAC IUCN JICA LenCD LENPA NAC NGO OECD OECS PNG RRA Sida SSM SWAP African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare, Zimbabwe Asian Development Bank Australian Agency for International Development Canadian International Development Agency Committee of Entities in the Struggle against Hunger and for a Full Life, Brazil European Centre for Development Policy Management Environmental Action programme, Jamaica Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, OECS, St Lucia Department for International Development, UK Network on Governance and Capacity Building, Development Assistance Committee of the OECD Health Sector Support Programme, Papua New Guinea International Development Research Center, Canada International NGO Training and Research Centre, Oxford, UK World Conservation Union Japanese International Cooperation Agency Learning Network on Capacity Development Learning Network on Programme-based Approaches National Access Consortium, South Africa non-governmental organisation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Papua New Guinea Rwanda Revenue Authority Swedish International Development Agency soft systems methodology sector-wide approach v

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8 1 Background 1.1 Purpose of the study In 2002 the chair of the Govnet, the OECD's Network on Governance and Capacity Building, asked the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Maastricht, the Netherlands, to undertake a study of the capacity of organisations and groups of organisations, mainly in low-income countries, its development over time and its relationship to improved performance. The specific purposes of this study were twofold: to enhance understanding of the interrelationships amongst capacity, change and performance across a wide range of development experiences; and to provide general recommendations and tools to support the effectiveness of external interventions aimed at improving capacity and performance Purpose of this interim report The purposes of this interim report to the Govnet are: to bring Govnet members up to date on the current status of the study; to set out some of the patterns emerging from the findings; and to indicate the tasks and schedule required to complete the study. Notes 1 Several other efforts to rethink approaches to capacity development are underway. The World Bank has, for example, established a task force to focus on the practical and operational challenges of improving support for its capacity building efforts. The African Development Bank is working with its regional and non-regional partners to define a new paradigm for supporting capacity. The Govnet of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD is writing a good practices paper on capacity development which tries to draw from all of these efforts. As of March 2005, this paper is still in draft. 2 It was originally intended to include cases in high-income countries to make the point that capacity issues are universal and are not limited to low-income states, but financial constraints prevented their inclusion. 3 See, for example, Levy and Kpundeh (2004) Building State Capacity in Africa, and Campbell and Fuhr (2004) Leadership and Innovation in Sub-national Government. 1.3 Analytical approach to the study Before reviewing the progress to date, we first describe the analytical approach to the study. First, the study focuses on endogenous processes of change. We are trying to understand the processes and dynamics of capacity development as they unfold at the field level. We are not advocating the value of country ownership. We assume it. Given that assumption, how does capacity emerge, and why? Part of the final report will focus on the role of external interventions, particularly those of international development agencies, but this aspect is not intended as the main part of the analysis. Our focus is on helping to improve, first, the current level of understanding, and then the types of intervention. Second, the study looks at capacity issues from a broad range of perspectives. The case studies, from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, 2 examine organisational, inter-organisational, network and sectoral activities in the NGO, public and nonprofit sectors. The intention is to look at capacity development as a complex human, technical and organisational process across a wide range of contexts and activities. We are not attempting in our research and publications to put forward a comprehensive view of all capacity issues at all levels, ranging from the country level to the individual participant. We have focused our attention more on studying the capacity of formal organisational actors ranging from individuals to larger networks and groups of organisations. Given the breadth of capacity issues, we believe other agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are better suited to address macro-institutional issues and the formulation of national capacity strategies. 3 We are acutely aware, however, that societal structures and institutions are a key part of almost all capacity 'systems', and we have tried to take their role in account in our work. Third, we are carrying out the analysis from a wide range of perspectives. Part of the difficulty in understanding capacity issues is the tendency to rely on uni-dimensional explanations. NGOs rely mainly on the implicit theories of organisational development. 1

9 Institutional economists see supply, demand and incentives as providing the key concepts. Political analysts use power as the central framework. Governance groups see societal organisation as determinant. Programme managers are concerned with inputs, targets, timelines and efficiency. We attempt to use all of these perspectives at different times. All are necessary and valuable but none is sufficient to provide a complete explanation. We are also reviewing the use of another framework that we believe adds a good deal of explanatory power: that of systems analysis. Fourth, we are trying to combine theoretical and operational insights. Most of the 'demand' for capacity analysis is from practitioners asking for definitions, tools and frameworks - the 'what' and the 'how'. We are addressing this need in our work. But it is clear from our research that capacity analysis also suffers from a lack of an explanatory theory that can adequately address the 'why' issues. We hope to make some contribution to filling this gap in the final report. The bulk of the analysis is targeted on the cases as examples of effective or at least promising capacity development. For the sake of comparison, we will include a section in the final report on the pattern of reasons for failure and lack of progress, but our intention is to call attention to the success stories for the insight they can impart. Many of these cases are filled with accounts of people acting with genuine ingenuity and professionalism. We hope they convey a sense of the enormous potential for capacity development that exists in most development situations. Finally, we are not intending to come up with any kind of universal formula for effective capacity development. The results of our research indicate that each situation requires a customised approach. What we hope to contribute are some perspectives that can be useful to help people understand complex capacity situations. 1.4 Methodology The methodology to date has been a combination of case studies (see figures 1 and 2) and a review of the global literature on capacity issues, including that from the private sector. In the remainder of the work, we intend to use the workshop format to discuss the findings in more detail. The case studies were chosen on the basis of both methodological and pragmatic considerations, including: deemed success; geographical and sectoral distribution; issues of special interest to the overall research, such as successful inter-governmental coordination; availability of substantial data on the organisation or system; availability of funding and donor preferences; and the interest of country participants. This last point perhaps requires more explanation. Most of the country organisations involved have welcomed the fieldwork and have used the cases as opportunities for learning, to help them better understand the reasons behind their success and their options for the future. In most of the cases, country staff participated in the analysis in some way. Some have used the results of the research in internal seminars, training sessions and in discussions with boards and funding agencies. Figure 1 provides a breakdown of the cases by region and entry point. The case studies were carried out between 2002 and Each case represents a snapshot of a situation that existed at a particular point in time, which may have since changed. 1.5 Funding The study has benefited from the support of a variety of donors, including the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Japanese International Development Agency (JICA), the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Several country organisations made financial contributions to the costs of their cases, including St Mary's Hospital Lacor in Uganda, the Committee of Entities in the Struggle against Hunger and for a Full Life (COEP) in Brazil, and the Asia Region of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). 2

10 1.6 Outputs to date The study is near the end of the research stage. A number of case studies are still to be finalised and we hope to carry out at least one more that deals with religion, early childhood education and community schooling in East Africa. We are also part way into the process of analysing in some detail the patterns emerging from the cases, and are reaching conclusions about their significance. Other tasks undertaken to date include the following: Various papers and contributions to international meetings and conferences have been prepared. A section of the Capacity.org website has been established to provide access to all documents related to the study (www.capacity.org). A methodological framework has been developed to guide the casework. A partially annotated literature review has been prepared with emphasis on three main sources: the international development literature on capacity issues; other cases of capacity development reported in the international literature; the global literature on management, including organisational design, core competencies and networks 4 ; and reports published by country organisations on capacity issues. A total of 18 case studies and one comparative study have been carried out, of which six reports have been published, 11 are in draft, and two are in preliminary stages (see figure 2 for an overview of the status of the case studies). An issue of Capacity.org devoted to the study has been published: 'Capacity development: The why's and the how's' 5, more than 1000 copies of which have been distributed in English and French. An article, 'What is capacity? Going beyond the conventional wisdom', has been published in News from the Nordic Africa Institute. 6 A draft discussion paper on the nature of capacity has been prepared. Notes 4 A number of international development agencies are currently reviewing their work in the area of capacity development, including the Asian Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Africa Region of the World Bank, and the International Development Research Center (IDRC). The International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC) is also conducting a major study with support from the Netherlands. There is a growing literature on capacity building coming out of the North American NGO community. See, for example, Blumenthal (2004) Investing in Capacity Building: A Guide to High-impact Approaches; and McKinsey and Co. (2001) Effective Capacity Building in Nonprofit Organizations. 5 'Capacity development: the why's and how's', Capacity.org, Issue 19, October Baser (2004) 'What is capacity? Going beyond the conventional wisdom', News from the Nordic Africa Institute, No.2, p.13. 3

13 2 Emerging patterns In this section we briefly describe some of the patterns that have emerged from our casework and analysis to date. These findings are organised roughly in the categories of the analytical framework used to guide the fieldwork. We will refine these and other findings at an internal ECDPM meeting in mid-march Broader context and governance We have been struck in our research by the reach and intrusion of a complex range of contextual factors that have acted to shape the evolution of capacity. From a systems perspective, all the organisations in the cases were themselves systems. They were, in turn, part of larger systems that have influenced their behaviour in both positive and negative ways. Part of the challenge for the participants was to 'see' these contextual factors at work and to manage strategically in response. Put another way, governance and capacity development were tightly coupled in many - although not all - situations. This interim report is not intended to present a full analysis of the range of contextual influences encountered, but some key patterns may give a sense of the situation. Political and governance structures have exerted a profound influence in most of the cases. It is instructive to compare the public sector reform programme in Tanzania with those in Pakistan and Papua New Guinea. Tanzania has a relatively homogeneous population with over 200 small tribes and ethnic groups and a common language. Landed elites have exerted little influence. There were fewer regional differences in economic and political power than in many other African countries. Its geopolitical and security situation was stable. Its political system was structured along the lines of uncompetitive pluralism resulting in low levels of political conflict and a high level of policy continuity. In practice, the governance environment in Tanzania provided the productive space and stability necessary for capacity building at all levels. These governance conditions did not exist in Pakistan and Papua New Guinea. 7 Both countries have had to contend with ethnic and geographical fragmentation. Political struggles have spilled over into all aspects of public life and have constrained or at times prevented 6 capacity and performance improvements. In a deeper sense, the governance situation in both countries has hindered the emergence of truly professional structures de-linked from politics. Those organisations in the public sector that did exist lacked the incentives, the resources and the operational autonomy needed to function effectively. In such contexts, approaches to capacity development need to be crafted differently than the technocratic strategies on display in the Tanzania case. This is not to say that dysfunctional contexts always lead to capacity failures. In a number of cases - such as the Lacor Hospital in Uganda, the IUCN in Pakistan and Asia - organisations have prospered amidst chaos and disorder. But four factors were at work in these cases. First, these organisations had operational autonomy and were not dependent on public financing. All were outside the public sector. Simply put, they could buffer and defend themselves from various kinds of incursions. Second, they had nimble senior managers who were able to navigate their organisations through the risks and take advantage of the opportunities that are always present in unstable environments. Third, they had loyal external supporters ready to buffer them in times of crisis. Finally, they had earned their legitimacy and the support of key domestic groups, who also acted to protect them. In some of the cases, we can see the impact of factors such as the 'brain drain', HIV/AIDS and civil strife. Also in evidence were the effects of globalisation and the arrival of the information technology revolution. A number of the case participants were engaged in virtual learning, global partnerships and international communities of practice. New ideas connected to capacity issues (for example, social accountability, performance management, executive agencies) have spread rapidly through global networks and in donor practices. 9 Finally, a number of the efforts at capacity development, especially those in the public sector, had drawn strength from earlier social and political convulsions that brought new elites into power and changed the rules of the game. The Rwanda case may be the most obvious, but the participants in the cases in Brazil, Notes 7 See, for example, Nadvi and Robinson (2004) Pakistan Drivers of Change: Synthesis and Policy Implications. 8 This globalising aspect of the context has also affected the practices of international funding agencies. For an analysis, see the Rockefeller Foundation Capacity Building Review (2004) What is Capacity and Why Do We Devote One-third of the Portfolio to Building It? 9 For an analysis of a state struggling to overcome institutional constraints, see Matsuda (2003) Peru Institutional Governance Review.

14 Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Africa all drew strength from new ideas and from the new organisational and institutional spaces they were able to occupy. In the final report, we will endeavour to show how contextual factors have acted to shape or at least influence the capacity development behaviour of organisational actors. Box 1: Comparing the environments for decentralised education in Ethiopia and Pakistan While both Ethiopia and Pakistan moved towards devolution and building the capacities to support it at about the same time, the political ownership of the national goals differed significantly. Ownership in Ethiopia was more widely shared than in Pakistan, relying heavily on the ruling party's discipline and communication chain. It was also more consensual, based on deeper representative democratic structures than existed in Pakistan (the ratio of population to locally elected representative is 1:200 in Ethiopia, but 1:1000 in Pakistan). In Pakistan, suspicions of the re-centralising motives of the bureaucracy persisted and the approach adopted was in spite of the bureaucracy, not through it. In addition, there was considerable opposition to the devolution plan on the part of vested interests within the political and bureaucratic establishment, particularly at the provincial level, which stood to gain little in terms of power or resources. All of these factors contributed to the conclusion of the team that more favourable and faster change is taking place in Ethiopia than in Pakistan. 2.2 Inter-organisational systems and networks Over the balance of the work we intend to pay particular attention to capacity development at the multiorganisational level. Capacity issues arising from such complex structures contain within them a series of challenges, including incentive structures, shared leadership and decision making, the crafting of capacity strategies, conflict and mandate management, competition versus collaboration, scaling up, and many others. Many capacity development interventions at the organisational level are embedded within larger systems that exert positive or negative effects on those interventions. In some of the cases these systems were characterised by their inability to manage resources effectively, or to make or enforce stable policies. In such systems, capacity development faced major constraints. In other cases, improved system capacity and performance helped to set off virtuous spirals that pulled along individual actors. In practice, most of the individual organisations, such as the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), were themselves multiorganisational systems that were both loosely and tightly coupled with partners, suppliers, interest groups, authorisers, competitors and others. Their level of capacity depended, in turn, on the capacity of others. Local governments in Indonesia and the Philippines also functioned within complex national systems that involved actors at the provincial and federal levels. Formal institutions - including laws, acts and regulations - mattered in many of the cases. The passing of new legislation reforming local government was critical in both Indonesia and the Philippines. Formal institutions were a key part of the capacity puzzle in Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Multi-organisational structures and specifically networks that link individual organisations are becoming more pervasive in all sectors in many countries. A number of the cases in this study, including the two in Brazil, fall directly into this category. Networks appear to offer one way to address the issue of scaling up capacity. We intend to say more about their particular contribution in the final report. The task in the final report will be to set out how capacity develops in these larger systems and networks and how they act to induce or suppress capacity in individual actors. 2.3 Capacity A key objective of the study is to develop a more complete understanding of organisational and system capacity: what comprises it, how and why it emerges, 7

15 how and why it contributes to development results, and how and why it weakens or collapses. Despite its advertised centrality to development, people everywhere struggle to explain exactly what capacity is or what it comprises. Virtually all discussions about the subject begin with an effort to agree on a definition. Few that have appeared give much operational help to practitioners. From the cases, two basic ways of thinking about the idea of capacity have emerged. The first, and by far the most common, sees capacity as a general, aggregated outcome of a series of organisational conditions or assets or relationships that are part of an organisation or system - structure, culture, systems, tangible and intangible resources, staff, legitimacy, pattern of incentives, identity and confidence, leadership, and so on. In an effective organisation these conditions combine to produce capacity or the general ability to implement programmes or deliver something of value to others. Capacity here means the general ability to perform. The second perspective is to see organisations or systems as a collection of more specific abilities distributed among a variety of levels: Individuals obviously have personal abilities or attributes or competencies that contribute to the performance of the organisation or system. Organisations or broader systems have capabilities to do things such as manage stakeholders, facilitate community development, carry out marine resource assessments, manage financial resources, listen and learn, empower staff, and so forth. Capabilities can be understood as the building blocks of an organisation's overall capacity to perform. Organisations or systems try to connect these competencies and capabilities into some sort of coherent combination or system that allows them to perform. This focus on specific abilities is critical to understanding capacity. Using the lens of specific competencies and capabilities allows for a more focused operational discussion of the capacity issue - something that still eludes many participants. 10 But these abilities draw their strength and effectiveness from the deeper conditions of the organisation or system of which they are a part. In systems terms, competencies and capabilities are emerging properties of the system of which they are a part. To get a deeper analysis of these issues, we are reviewing some of the patterns that have emerged from the cases. The organisations needed all different types of competencies and capabilities in order to survive. Those that delivered value on the outside versus those that were needed only on the inside. Those that were technical and professional versus those that were organisational or logistical. Those that were limited to a few people versus those that were needed by all staff. Those that were absolutely central or 'core' as opposed to those that were needed only up to a satisfactory level. Some seem to be transitory and play a particular role at a particular time, while others are often permanent, helping to sustain the identity and even the existence of the organisation. One of the most pervasive patterns was the need for both 'hard' (or technical/logistical) and 'soft' (or human motivation) capabilities. In many of the cases - Lacor Hospital, the Rwanda Revenue Authority, the ESDU Unit of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), ENACT in Jamaica - the participants worked hard to combine hard and soft capabilities into a coherent whole. Too much on the hard side and the organisation began to flounder as a human community. Too much on the soft side and it could not deliver value to its clients and stakeholders. Among the most significant soft capabilities were those that enabled an organisation to transfer or internalise core values over time, to adapt to change and to reach out to create networks with other organisations and to learn. The challenge was for national participants and external agencies to collaborate in a way and at a speed necessary to get the balance right. Box 2: Inculcating standards and values in an organisation Dr Piero Corti and Dr Lucille Teasdale set up St Mary's Hospital at Lacor in Northern Uganda in the early 1960s. Their goal was to offer the best possible service to the maximum number of people at the lowest possible cost. For them, the capability to instil a sense of medical professionalism in the staff was key. The Cortis also saw the hospital's ability to live up to the values of Catholic humanitarianism as central to its work. A core group of 15 to 20 people within the hospital are now responsible for transferring both these hard and soft skills to all staff, mainly through the power of example on the job and through regular staff meetings. The hospital's management approach of sharing responsibility and involving staff at all levels is another transfer mechanism. 8 Notes 10 For a systematic way of analysing capabilities, see Ulrich and Smallwood (2004) 'Capitalizing on capabilities'

16 Part of the process of capacity development involved the way organisations altered the pattern of the competencies and capabilities as they grew in size and scope of action, and the complexity of their tasks increased. The Rwanda Revenue Authority case tracks the evolution of the agency over three stages and eight years. The COEP network in Brazil added logistical capabilities as it grew beyond a certain size. The staff of ESDU in the Eastern Caribbean worked as a group to add soft capabilities in order to better meet the needs of the countries they serve. The Lacor Hospital added management capabilities as it went through a generational change in leadership. Over the rest of the research and analysis, we will concentrate on a number of issues: We are doing more work to track the patterns of growth in competencies and capabilities in order to give a more evolutionary view of capacity development as it unfolds. We will include some analysis on how various organisations and systems have addressed the development of a particular capability, e.g. building a capability for international project management in the Asia region of the IUCN, or how the local government system in the Philippines improved its collective capability to learn. We know more about the process of developing capabilities at the level of single organisations than we do at the level of inter-organisational groupings or more complex networks or even whole societies. We intend to go more deeply into this issue using the two cases of effective network development in Brazil in order to better understand the process at that level. 2.4 Institutional and organisational change We are trying to get a better sense of change issues both within organisations and across multi-organisational systems. We are also trying where possible to disentangle national roles and interventions from those of external actors, which are discussed separately in section 2.6 below. We remain puzzled about the relative lack of attention being paid to change issues in development cooperation. In the private sector, an enormous literature and body of experience exists, much of which emphasises the difficulties and challenges involved in designing and managing programmes of intentional change. The high rate of failure of change efforts in the private sector has long been accepted as normal and has led to intensified efforts to master it as a process. 11 In development cooperation, much of the analysis seems to have a more technocratic, programmed style that minimises the risks and boosts the apparent benefits to be achieved. Many approaches push a particular ingredient - incentives, participation, leadership, commitment, technical advice and support, and so on - that is felt to be the key solution. Many capacity analyses also contain a good deal of prescription and advocacy but tend to be short on understanding the dynamics of complex processes of change. This tendency has led us to try and better understand this issue as it unfolds in the real world. Two questions have thus preoccupied us: What change strategies did the participants end up with, and why? How did capacity change and evolve in response to these strategies. What worked and what did not, and why? We would also add two points about change in support of capacity development. First, many capacity analyses set out lists or sets of conditions that support effective capacity development and contrast them with those that hinder its emergence. But their informal application to most of the cases reviewed for this study was not helpful. Many of these conditions have more to do with outcomes than with determining factors. On the face of it, most of the cases in this study faced uncertain or discouraging prospects for capacity development at the outset. But the more effective interventions contained an energy Notes 11 See Pasmore (1994) Creating Strategic Change: Designing the Flexible High-Performing Organization; Senge et al. (1999) The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations; and Kotter and Cohen (2002) The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change their Organizations. 9

17 and a way of attracting support and resources that enabled them to move to new levels of capacity and performance. The second has to do with the detailed design and strategic planning of capacity interventions. We see no universal value in these techniques. In some cases in which a coherent approach had to be imposed across a wide range of actors, planning and more centralised policies had merit. In others that were more experimental and exploratory in nature, such as the growth of the COEP network in Brazil, the participants relied on common values, informal networks and constant adaptation to maintain their coherence and direction. In these cases, few of the practitioners seemed to have much faith in grand capacity strategies. They had no systematic 'plan' for capacity development in the conventional sense of that term, and few saw the opportunity to formulate them. We will say more about differing approaches to programming and design in the final report. Box 3: A pragmatic and incremental change process In the Rwanda Revenue Authority, large-scale, comprehensive and predetermined reform processes have been avoided in favour of pragmatic and incremental approaches characterised by adaptation to emerging needs and priorities and progression over relatively short time frames. Working incrementally has not meant, however, being non-strategic. The importance of positioning One of the first issues to come to our attention is what we call 'positioning', i.e. the entry point for the selected intervention and the change strategy that underpinned it. The cases contained a wide range of positioning strategies, some explicit and some not, some successful and some not. Many were unconventional and counter-intuitive. The Brazilian network COEP endeavoured to energise and connect existing capacity for social development in Brazil housed in agencies such as the national oil company and the post office. The strategy here was one of mobilising public resources from outside the public sector by a non-governmental actor. In the ENACT case in Jamaica, the organisational unit charged with supporting capacity development in the environment sector, adopted a strategy of responsive entrepreneurship in an effort to entice public agencies to volunteer to join the programme. This programme was positioned more as a challenge fund or a venture capital initiative rather than a supplier of more conventional supply-driven programmes. The ENACT programme also used the techniques of social marketing to encourage Jamaican agencies to look at capacity issues. In the Russia trade case, the programme abandoned a conventional training approach to capacity development in the Ministry and opted instead to set up a hybrid firm in the private sector that could then act as a support structure for the sector as a whole. In the Tanzanian case, the government and its supporters settled on a comprehensive, mandatory, long-term approach to public sector reform based on what was felt to be international best practice. In the Ethiopia case, in the efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, the reverse strategy was adopted with small initiatives being put in place that would show results within 100 days. In the case of the National Access Consortium (NAC) in South Africa, a group of social entrepreneurs set up a semi-private technical college to increase the intake of youth left unprepared by the apartheid educational system. The experiment encountered enormous obstacles in its attempt to integrate itself into the wider public education system. 10

18 We would emphasise again that capacity development is usually one of many agendas competing for attention amongst both donors and country participants in what can be chaotic situations. Positioning represents part of the effort to capture attention, commitment and resources in such contexts. The influence of politics The influence of politics, not surprisingly, permeated most of the cases. Capacity development involved shifts in roles, power, access to resources, relationships and identities, and these shifts took place at all levels from the individual to the national. In most cases, conflicting purposes had to be managed. Internal fragmentation had to be reduced and the operating space preserved. In some cases, the process of capacity destruction was crucial as groups and organisations struggled to renovate and reform older structures. In some cases, making systematic efforts to improve capacity made little sense given the pressures, vested interests and perverse incentives. In others, the symbolic manipulation of capacity images was a useful strategy. We can see the case participants dealing with political factors in a variety of ways. Some groups outside government made consistent efforts to avoid any political identification. The COEP network in Brazil and most NGOs in Bangladesh fall into this category. Others actively worked with political elites to ensure support and protection, as in the case of the IUCN in Pakistan. Some used the buffering power of donors to fend off political intrusions. All the leaders worked informally to maintain their political credibility and legitimacy. Demand and supply Current thinking, particularly with respect to dealing with service delivery in the public sector, seems to favour 'demand-side' approaches. Yet, the evidence from the cases was mixed on the effectiveness of demand-side approaches. None of the cases, for example, came with both a strong demand and a ready supply. A number came with neither. Other cases were characterised by a low initial demand from organised beneficiaries sceptical about the government's ability to deliver anything useful. What did appear in a number of the cases was 'demand' from either internal staff or other elite groups interested in improved performance. In the Tanzanian civil service reform case, there were weak demands from citizens but growing pressures from other organised constituencies such as professional groups, exporters, commercial interests and international funders intent on equipping Tanzania to compete in a globalising world. This pressure energised Tanzanian reformers within government to press ahead in an effort to escape the weakdemand, weak-response dilemma that traps many efforts at capacity development. The Rwanda Revenue Authority showed a similar dynamic. The Lacor Hospital was based on a supply-driven intervention that, in time, created its own legitimacy and led to increased citizen demands. In these cases demand creation seemed as important as demand responsiveness. Some of the cases show the need to distinguish, when it comes to supply and demand, between actions that can help to spark off capacity development and those that can act to sustain it. In a number of cases, the energy of 'social entrepreneurs' mattered much more than the initial level of demand. 12 Operating space An issue that appears in many of the cases was that of operating space, i.e. the degree of policy, operational and financial autonomy that allowed actors the freedom to invest in their own capacity development or to negotiate for support. A number of actors - the Lacor Hospital, the IUCN - were positioned outside the public sector and used their access to external financing to enhance their capacity and performance. Others, such as the Rwanda Revenue Authority in the public sector, were managed under the general guidance of political authorities but were given adequate buffering from politicisation. Maintaining an operating space was also key to achieving some sort of internal stability within the organisation, which, in turn, allowed staff the time to reutilise or institutionalise various competencies and capabilities inside the structure. One of the most difficult aspects of the space issue appeared to be the achievement of the right trade-offs amongst operational autonomy, political support, performance and accountability. Too much autonomy and the impetus to improve and perform could decline. But too little could disempower the actors and lead to erosion in terms of capacity and performance. The value of legitimacy The legitimacy of an organisation within the system in which it operates both contributes to, and comes from, a reputation and loyalty. Legitimacy, in turn, Notes 12 See Bornstein (2004) How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. 11

19 Box 4: Creating space and maintaining independence The Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in Castries, St Lucia, maintained its operating space by managing and balancing its stakeholders. The unit had direct and clear relationships with its key stakeholders, the Member States of the OECS. The organisation earned legitimacy and trust from the Member States which, in turn, allowed staff to use outside support to maintain operating space in their relationships with a range of stakeholders including external funders and other authorising groups. The legal status of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) - a semi-autonomous government agency - provided it with sufficient autonomy to take decisions and manage resources on professional principles, and pursue its mandate without interference or distraction. Strong and visionary leadership, including from the Board, helped the RRA translate political aspirations into results on the ground. It could also count on political support from the President who insisted on public service integrity, transparency and accountability as part of his campaign of zero tolerance towards corruption. produces a range of other benefits that bear upon the capacity issue. It creates opportunities and acceptance. It opens up access to resources and protection. It reinforces personal and organisational identities. Legitimacy stems from a variety of sources. Organisations and systems that persist over a long period of time and under difficult circumstances seem to earn it. Organisations that symbolise a set of values and meaning attract it. Organisations that deliver consistent public value earn it. But legitimacy can also come from factors unrelated to capacity and performance that may have cultural, symbolic roots. Systems effects Productive change can come about through what some participants have described as chemical reactions or spontaneous combustion. Systems theory labels this phenomenon 'emergence'. The intervention was well positioned. A window of opportunity suddenly opened sometimes unknown to all the participants. New participants entered the scene and others left. A critical mass of factors and ingredients came together, including the effects of events seemingly remote from the immediate focus of attention. Participants sensed movement and energy and gained confidence. A virtuous spiral of capacity development emerged and accelerated and began to improve both capacity and performance. We do not fully understand this process well enough to be clear about it. But it does explain more about effective capacity development than the linear, machine-building perspectives that have dominated much of the discussion in the past about capacity development. We will be issuing a discussion paper on this subject later in The role of leadership Committed leaders - and followers - were at the heart of all the examples of effective capacity development. But leaders require particular qualities. Those who relied on a heroic model and who focused on a variety of agendas other than capacity development frequently did more harm than good. Our concern here is the nature of the connection between leadership and capacity development. At least four patterns seem to have emerged. First, such people infused energy and confidence into their staff. They overcame the sense of disempowerment that affects many in under-funded organisations. Second, they thought strategically and creatively about capacity development as an end in itself, as well as a means to achieve greater performance. Third, they used their informal networks, contacts and social standing to protect the efforts of the organisation or system. Fourth, they adapted their leadership style as the organisation grew around them. Most recognised the dangers of the 'founder's trap' and worked to overcome it. 12

20 Box 5: Inspired leadership and engaged followers COEP, a national solidarity network in Brazil, is committed to building a just and inclusive society for all Brazilians, one without hunger and poverty. COEP encourages its member entities (in Brazil's parastatal sector, along with businesses, educational institutions and civil society organisations) to support and participate in development projects, organise campaigns to mobilise public and institutional resources, and to cooperate in their work to end poverty. Its success is founded on its substantial intangible resources: creative and inspired leadership, which enjoys substantial legitimacy within the network and beyond; a sustained capability for strategic thinking and change; and the commitment, passion and energy of its institutional members. Together, these intangibles have created a social and moral imperative to which COEP's members have responded, using their considerable material, financial and professional assets to support anti-poverty initiatives such as the Zero Hunger campaign. larger purpose attracted the kind of personal and organisational commitment that fuelled major gains in capacity. Change appeared to happen the fastest when the incentives and values supplemented and reinforced each other. The importance of informal patterns of behaviour We were struck in some of the cases by the two worlds of capacity. A number had deep indigenous roots and practices as their key elements. Formal, 'modern' structures adopted from high-income settings had had been overlaid on these older, more traditional structures but had not replaced them. 14 In many cases, power and legitimacy came out of the informal and traditional rather than the modern. Formal structures and institutions were kept going for the purposes of symbolic appearances. Yet the latter, not surprisingly, received much more attention in capacity interventions funded by donors. The change strategies that appeared most effective were able to operate well at both levels. They had ways of indigenising techniques from the outside and modernising traditional practices and values. Capacity development was at one level about respecting national values. But it was also about changing them to fit with new challenges. Approaches to human motivation Most approaches to change - and indeed most approaches to capacity development - revolve around conceptions of human motivation. We can see in these cases that the various patterns of incentives affected both organisational and individual behaviour in different ways. 13 But we have also been struck by the way individuals in some of the cases appeared to act against their own self-interest in pursuit of broader goals. An exclusive emphasis on incentives tended to focus too much attention on interpersonal and inter-organisational conflict, and to ignore other sources of motivation such as value systems, norms and goals, organisational identity and social capital. Capacity interventions that gave people meaning or a Box 6: Changing attitudes The Tanzania civil service reform programme is presently in its fourth phase, this one focused on implementing a performance improvement model. The emphasis is on changing the attitudes of public servants and encouraging new work habits such as promptness, regular attendance and service to the public. There are eight aspects to the total system, of which one is service delivery surveys. In the Ministry of Lands, the highly critical results of the survey helped to provide further incentives, along with computerisation of the system, for improved productivity. The average time required for a land registration dropped from 20 years to 1 or 2 years. Notes 13 For a detailed analysis of incentive issues, see World Bank, ADB and DfID (2004) 'Early signs of changing incentives for service providers', in Devolution in Pakistan: Vol. 2, The Recent History. 14 There are many accounts of this process in the literature. See, for example, Dia (1996) Africa's Management in the 1990s and Beyond: Reconciling Indigenous and Transplanted Institutions; and Turnbull (2002) 'Solomon Islands: Blending traditional state power and modern structures in the state'. 13

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